Claims that restricting mealtimes increases the risk of heart-related death by 91% may be far-fetched, British experts say.

This week, the American Heart Association issued a press release about research to be presented at EPI|Lifestyle 2024, the Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Research Conference in Chicago. The study, now available as a poster presentation and short abstract, says that the common diet of time-restricted eating is associated with a significantly increased risk of death from heart disease over time. .

Time-restricted eating is similar to intermittent fasting, where you eat all the food you plan to eat for the day within 6 to 8 hours, and then fast for the remaining 16 to 18 hours. In the study, 20,000 adults provided data on what and when they ate over two 24-hour periods between 2003 and 2018. In 2019, researchers looked at mortality rates within the cohort to draw conclusions.

All six independent experts who spoke to the UK Science Media Center about the study said it was difficult to judge how well the study was carried out without access to the full paper, which has not yet been fully peer-reviewed. said it was difficult. However, Professor Emeritus Sir David Spiegelhalter of the University of Cambridge went so far as to say that the summary “should not have been embellished in a press release”.

Emeritus Professor Kevin McConway of the Open University agreed that the abstract should not have been promoted in the press release, and said there were aspects of the abstract that indicated the research may have limitations.

“Researchers categorized people into different eating patterns based on what and when they reported eating in just two days over an average eight-year study period. Their meals in those two 24-hour periods We do not know whether the times were the same as their regular mealtimes. Therefore, associating these patterns with an intentionally long-term, time-restricted dietary intervention goes well beyond the data. “It seems like there are,” McConway said.

Read more: What is a diet?

Professor McConway said that if participants were participating in intentionally time-restricted eating, it would be difficult to determine whether other factors were at play that contributed to the group’s higher risk of heart disease mortality. Stated.

“People who are already concerned about their cardiovascular health, perhaps for good reasons such as signs of illness or previous unhealthy activity, may be more likely to decide to limit their meal times. The increased death from cardiovascular disease in people who restricted their mealtimes may be explained not by dietary restrictions, but by what was the cause of their previous worries. We don’t know that.”

Emeritus Professor Tom Saunders of King’s College London shared these concerns, but said the study appeared to have some strengths, including a relatively long follow-up period and a large population. .

Saunders said there is generally a lack of evidence showing the benefits of time-restricted eating for weight loss and maintenance, and previous research suggests it may not be best for the heart. He said he is doing so.

“With regard to cardiovascular risk factors, the existing evidence suggests that it is probably better to spread out food intake throughout the day (small but frequent) rather than eating large meals over a short period of time. I already know.”

Keith Frain, emeritus professor at the University of Oxford, said there were currently unanswered questions about the study, but long-term studies of time-restricted eating like this one were needed.

“In general, we caution against the widespread adoption of dietary strategies whose long-term effects have not been adequately evaluated.”

You can read reactions from UK SMC experts here